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An America Without Religion

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Imagine the U.S. as a nation that did not practice any types of religion. Explain how this might affect society.

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Solution Summary

The solution provides information on the relevance and functions of religion in American society today, expounding on culture, identity and the question 'what if America had no religion?'. 1433 words with 5 resources listed for further exploration of the topic.

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Dear Student,
Hi There and thank you for using Brainmass. The solution below should get you started. In order for us to cover this, I advise utilizing some sociological perspectives and published materials on the subject to quantify a position. I suggest using this simple outline:

1. About Religion & Function - 150 words
2. Relevance to Society - 150 words
3. America without Religion using sociological perspectives - 150 words

This outline should yield around 450 words which should cover what you need. You can also use the listed resources to further explore the topic. All the best with your studies.

Sincerely,
AE 105878/Xenia Jones

Religion & Society

Introduction

If we look at the history of civilizations and of nations, at the germinating point of identity and culture when social foundations were established, religion was essential and played a part in the construction of identity, practices, worldviews and standards of living. Religion as we know it is a school of beliefs, a paradigm of thought that parlays beyond the natural world with an organized system of ideas that attempt to explain our world, our origins, our purpose and how or why things happen and go on. Religion gives us our creation stories just as religion had given us our ways of living - how to live, our right and wrongs, standards of morality, definitions of good and bad, of what is the ideal and what isn't. In so doing we were able to set socio-cultural rules that forged in us ideas of who we are, how we should live, what we should be. This is true for all religions from the major ones (i.e. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism) to the folk religions (i.e. Shintoism, Druze, Sufism, Haitian Voodoo) so that their faithful and the societies, nations and communities established through them or sustained by them have come to incorporate social beliefs and social standards, even in what they consider as acceptably legal (i.e. Sharia Law) practice. Religion's role in society is complex in terms of function, in terms of meaning creation and in terms of the establishment of identity through belief-conflict (i.e. the Crusades defining who and what makes up a good Christian and a good Muslim).

Relevance/Function

The ...

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  • MPhil/PhD (IP), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
  • BA, University of the Philippines
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